The Stranger - Albert Camus
The novel in which French Novelist and moralist Albert Camus explored what he termed as "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd".
Meursault ( his surname ), narrates the last part of his life, from the opening line of "Maman died today" ( Maman being a child's term for mother ) , Meursault tells with all honesty the events that followed.
Upon returning to Algiers after burying his mother he crossed paths with an old officemate Marie, whom he develops an intimate relationship, life for him is going to work everyday, being loyal to his firm, waiting for each Saturday to spend the day with Marie, dealing with his neighbors in a friendly manner, Salamano and his dog, restaurant owner Celeste and a self described "warehouse guard" Raymond.
Problem arises when Raymond got in trouble with a group of Arabs.
During a trip to an Algier beach side, Raymond, Masson ( Raymond's friend ) and Meursault got in a fight with the Arabs who followed them, Raymond was cut by a knife in the arm and side of the mouth.
Afterwards for no reason, Meursault went back to the beach, at the same spot where he found the Arab in the sun drenched Algiers Beach, in what he narrates as
"I knew i had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where i'd been happy. Then i fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness".
Meursault, an ordinary man now unwittingly gets drawn into a senseless murder.
Meursault then narrates the investigation that follows, the trial and the sentencing all with cunning and honest description of his feelings, the freedom, the life that he lost and the eventual acceptance of his fate.
******
Originally written in French, translated into English countless times, the new English version by Matthew Ward is called as the most truest Camus English rendition ever.
"Mother died today" was aptly replaced by "Maman died today" as one of the example of being true to Camus' version.
Albert Camus is considered as a moralist, a philosopher among being a great novelist, among his works are the non-fiction philosophical essay "the Rebel" and fiction like "the Plague", "the Fall" and "exile in the kingdom" all dealing with Man's inner senses and nature, with the Plague being a parable of Man's moral resonance.
In the Stranger, Camus writes in a fast faced manner, short in details of the surroundings, more cut to the chase with regards to the Narrator's feelings of himself and those who are around him.
"I explained to him, however, that my nature was such physical needs got often in the way of my feelings, the day i buried Maman, i was very tired and sleepy"
In explaining to his lawyer the reason for his seemingly "insensitivity" during his mother's funeral.
It was a book that lets readers an inside spot in the mind of a person as Camus stated "faced with the absurd", dealing with his actions, getting use to life with no freedom and eventually accepting the fate that awaits him.
"When i was first imprisoned, the hardest thing was that my thoughts were still those of a free man, for example i would suddenly have the urge to be on a beach and to walk down to the water...all of a sudden i would feel just how closed in i was by the walls of my cell...but those lasted a few months...afterwards my only thoughts were those of a prisoner"
****
It was a short read like a long essay, 123 pages in all, it will just take up an hour of your life, but i tell you its one hour you would never ever regret losing.
Meursault ( his surname ), narrates the last part of his life, from the opening line of "Maman died today" ( Maman being a child's term for mother ) , Meursault tells with all honesty the events that followed.
Upon returning to Algiers after burying his mother he crossed paths with an old officemate Marie, whom he develops an intimate relationship, life for him is going to work everyday, being loyal to his firm, waiting for each Saturday to spend the day with Marie, dealing with his neighbors in a friendly manner, Salamano and his dog, restaurant owner Celeste and a self described "warehouse guard" Raymond.
Problem arises when Raymond got in trouble with a group of Arabs.
During a trip to an Algier beach side, Raymond, Masson ( Raymond's friend ) and Meursault got in a fight with the Arabs who followed them, Raymond was cut by a knife in the arm and side of the mouth.
Afterwards for no reason, Meursault went back to the beach, at the same spot where he found the Arab in the sun drenched Algiers Beach, in what he narrates as
"I knew i had shattered the harmony of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where i'd been happy. Then i fired four more times at the motionless body where the bullets lodged without leaving a trace. And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness".
Meursault, an ordinary man now unwittingly gets drawn into a senseless murder.
Meursault then narrates the investigation that follows, the trial and the sentencing all with cunning and honest description of his feelings, the freedom, the life that he lost and the eventual acceptance of his fate.
******
Originally written in French, translated into English countless times, the new English version by Matthew Ward is called as the most truest Camus English rendition ever.
"Mother died today" was aptly replaced by "Maman died today" as one of the example of being true to Camus' version.
Albert Camus is considered as a moralist, a philosopher among being a great novelist, among his works are the non-fiction philosophical essay "the Rebel" and fiction like "the Plague", "the Fall" and "exile in the kingdom" all dealing with Man's inner senses and nature, with the Plague being a parable of Man's moral resonance.
In the Stranger, Camus writes in a fast faced manner, short in details of the surroundings, more cut to the chase with regards to the Narrator's feelings of himself and those who are around him.
"I explained to him, however, that my nature was such physical needs got often in the way of my feelings, the day i buried Maman, i was very tired and sleepy"
In explaining to his lawyer the reason for his seemingly "insensitivity" during his mother's funeral.
It was a book that lets readers an inside spot in the mind of a person as Camus stated "faced with the absurd", dealing with his actions, getting use to life with no freedom and eventually accepting the fate that awaits him.
"When i was first imprisoned, the hardest thing was that my thoughts were still those of a free man, for example i would suddenly have the urge to be on a beach and to walk down to the water...all of a sudden i would feel just how closed in i was by the walls of my cell...but those lasted a few months...afterwards my only thoughts were those of a prisoner"
****
It was a short read like a long essay, 123 pages in all, it will just take up an hour of your life, but i tell you its one hour you would never ever regret losing.
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